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 If nothing else, Steve Earle has lived a colorful life. Armed with an eighth-grade education, a wild streak and the gift of song, he left home at 16 to travel the expanses of Texas with an uncle and by the time he was 18 Earle had married the first of his seven wives.
After making his way to Nashville where he worked for several years as a contract songwriter — Johnny Lee and Carl Perkins were among the artists who recorded his songs — Steve Earle began his recording career in 1986 with the album Guitar Town, and from that point forward controversy seemed to shadow him wherever he went. At first it was innocuous stuff: the country crowd said he wasn't country enough and the rock set dismissed him as too country. Then it got ugly as Earle spiraled downward into substance abuse and regular run-ins with the law; when he finally shook off the monkeys from his back, his far-left political views surfaced to rub some the wrong way.
In addition to being prolific songwriter, Steve Earle is an accomplished author and playwright — his outspoken anti-war stance shades almost all of his efforts. Together with his wife, alt-country singer Allison Moorer, he's ensconced in Greenwich Village and hosts “The Steve Earle Show: Hard Core Troubadour Radio” every week on Sirius Satellite Radio.
The follow-up to his Grammy-winning Washington Square Serenade (2007), Townes is a tribute album to his mentor and close friend, singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Guests include his son, Justin Townes Earle, Moorer and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello.
Provenance: Fort Monroe, Virginia
Latest release: Townes (2009)
© 2009 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
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